Anyone know about wild birds?

[otterwoman]

I have a question about red cardinals; for the last few months (yes, months!), there has been a male cardinal trying to get into my house through a closed window. He has spent hours sometimes bapping against the window. It's gone on long enough that the cat doesn't even care anymore. We have a ceiling fan on, but the light may or may not be on. Sometimes the TV is on, sometimes not. He starts in the morning, and will somedays go until late afternoon. I have yelled at him, he flies away and comes back. Two days ago he was at it again, but he had brought a lady friend with him.

Any idea why?

I'm in NY, in the US if it helps.

[magicdomino]

He's trying to drive that strange male cardinal out of his territory -- the one in the window reflection.     I had one doing that for a couple of years, and it was amazing how much he would fly at his reflection, yet never figured out that he couldn't break through the transparent surface protecting the invader.  It probably didn't help that the "invader" seemed to be attacking him as well.  The bush that he used to launch his attacks got bent in a heavy snowstorm, and that seemed to solve the problem.  The other thing is to disrupt the reflection, but you'll have to put something outside the window; curtains and the like seemed to make the reflection stand out even more.

[MorgnsGrl]

Maybe you could put some decals on the outside and/or inside of the window to break his reflection?

[Bright]

Just try googling Red Cardinals and windows. You're apparantly not the only one who has that problem with them.

The first two hits I got were
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070318184154AA96nuO
http://ask.metafilter.com/26033/What-causes-a-bird-to-fly-into-my-window-repeatedly-with-reckless-abandon

They suggest that the bird's obsessed with its own reflection, which it sees in the window. They also suggest using a  hawk sillhouette or an owl to scare the bird off. Or making it so he can't see his reflection.

[doodlemor]

If you are anywhere near Buffalo you could try calling the Museum of Science for information.  They had interesting ideas for some of the wild animals that we've had in our yard, and the snake who came into our house.

[snowdragon]

If you are anywhere near Buffalo you could try calling the Museum of Science for information.  They had interesting ideas for some of the wild animals that we've had in our yard, and the snake who came into our house.

If you are not near them call them anyhow.  Or email them. If you email them - try the staff directory and ask Doug Borzynski. If Doug does not know he will find out for you, or direct you to the person who will know. You could also try Cornell University's Ornithology Dept. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsandFeeding/BirdIdentification.htm at the bottom is a contact us link and they are good folks to ask, just about anything.

[Luci45]

I agree that the bird is attacking himself in the reflection off the glass.

We had one do that for an entire winter. He never seemed to learn. I guess he finally passed away. I always hoped he didn't reproduce because I didn't want to see the gene pool lose any birdie IQ points.

We have lived here 12 years, with lots a cardinals nesting, but that was the only bird that got crazy like that.

The window was above a walkway and he seemed to leave a dropping everytime he bammed the window. It was a constant mess.